Puget Sound business and health officials have spent considerable time and energy over the last year preparing jointly for a possible new pandemic flu, but such efforts are just now getting off the ground here, and Spokane-area businesses appear mostly to have little concern about such an outbreak.


Its been minimal to moderate, Julie Graham, Spokane Regional Health District spokeswoman, says about the level of business interest in the topic to date. Convincing people that they need to take it seriously, without making it sound like were saying the sky is falling, has been a challenge.


Discussions about how best to prepare for a global pandemic fluthe worst one, in 1918, killed 675,000 people in the U.S. and more than 20 million worldwidehave been escalating due to the steady spread of an avian flu that originated in Asia several years ago. That outbreak, involving a type of influenza virus that scientists call H5N1, has been dubbed the avian flu, or bird flu, because it mostly has stricken domestic chickens and ducks.


More than 200 million birds in affected Southeast Asian countries either have died from the disease or were killed to try to control the outbreak. At last count, though, the virus also had infected at least 205 people and killed 113 of them. It spread last summer to wild migratory birds, and many health experts expect it to reach the U.S. this year.


We have kind of two separate plans because pandemic flu is not the same as avian flu, Graham says. Avian flu will likely be here this year, but that doesnt necessarily mean there will be a huge threat to humans, or a big impact on the community or business.


In the countries hit hardest by that virus, people have much closer contact with potentially infected birds than occurs in the U.S., she says, adding, Our commercial poultry growers already have tight bio-security practices.


The arrival of avian flu in the U.S. might initially cause a little bit of overreaction, people thinking theyve got symptoms, people who are worried unnecessarily, but I dont think theres going to be a huge impact on business, Graham says.


She adds, however, that a pandemic influenzasuch as if the avian flu were to transform into a human-to-human viruswould have an extraordinary impact on businesses here, through worker absences, disrupted supply chains, and an inability to provide crucial services.


If avian flu mutates to become a human influenza, we would be very concerned, Graham says. So what were doing with businesses now is (working on) what you can do to help your business survive a long-term disease outbreak.


The health district launched an educational campaign in December and announced in January that it had added a pandemic influenza page to its Web site, at www.srhd.org/health/disease/pandemic.asp. It also has embarked on a community-outreach program through which it is trying to deliver information to employers and others.


Were hoping to be pretty proactive, Graham says, so we have specific sectors that weve developed plans forschools, government and law enforcement, health care, business and industry, and have been scheduling meetings with representatives from those sectors, rather than waiting to be approached. We cant simply sit around to see if they want to, she says.


The health district expects to receive shortly about $80,000 in federal money to help with the pandemic flu preparedness effort here, and has received 100,000 face masks that it soon will begin distributing to essential personnel, such as police and firefighters, to use if an outbreak occurs. It also is providing free family-preparedness guides and plans to hand out stop germs kits, consisting of a hand sanitizer, a couple of masks, and information on how to avoid spreading or catching germs, at a series of upcoming community forums on the flu topic.


One of the biggest obstacles in persuading businesses to draw up contingency plans for a pandemic flu obviously is uncertainty about when it might occur, Graham says.


We dont know whether it will be next month or 10 years from now, but its going to happen, she says. The alarm related specifically to the avian flu, she says, is that its behaving like other viruses that have sparked pandemics. It has raised a lot of concern with health officials and scientists, so were treating it like it could be.


In King County, the group working on pandemic flu planning is very large and active, due partly to the efforts of the countys top executive, Ron Sims, who has made it a priority and has used his clout to build broad business support, Graham says.


Thats not something weve started here yet, she says, noting that the health districts educational efforts involving businesses thus far have been more targeted. Basically, weve just gotten our ducks in a row, and are getting out of the gate, so were hoping to get more participating. Every time we go out, it spurs additional requests from businesses.


Employer groups here, though, say their members have voiced no or little concern about a possible new pandemic flu arriving here.


To my knowledge, we have not received any calls about that, says Linda Helwege, trust operations administrator for Spokane-based nonprofit Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest.


The level of awareness appears likely to rise, though. Along with the health districts still-evolving efforts, a public-private group called the Alliance for Business Continuity and Preparedness of Spokane County plans soon to begin using the extensive business e-mail address lists of several obliging participants to disseminate information related to the pandemic flu, says John Ames, who heads the alliance. Those participants, he says, include the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau of the Inland Northwest, and the Journal of Business.


Ames, who works as director of business continuity practices for IT-Lifeline Inc., a Liberty Lake-based data backup and recovery company, also co-chairs the Spokane Area Citizen Corp Council/Disaster Committee, with which the alliance is affiliated, and chairs a health district pandemic flu subcommittee.


The real issue for business and industry will be dealing with illness, he says. People in the U.S. tend to have a habit of coming to work when theyre sick. Its going to take a cultural change.


A general business-continuity survey done last summer found that about 65 percent of businesses dont have any type of continuity plan, and, Of those that have planned, only 10 to 15 percent are starting to deal with the issue of a pandemic, he says.


Web sites devoted to the business side of pandemic flu outline the need for everything from identifying critical employees and suppliers and establishing pay and sick-leave policies unique to a pandemic, to providing infection-control supplies at work and even training and preparing an ancillary work force.


While some businesses might contend that they cant afford the time and expense to do such planning, Ames says he embraces the viewpoint that we really cant afford not to plan, given the potential consequences.


Pandemic flu might be a bigger concern in Seattle partly because that city has a lot more exposure to international travelers than Spokane does, Ames says.


Also working hard to convince Inland Northwest employers of the seriousness of the threat is Dr. Stan Shapiro. The former Kellogg, Idaho, internist now operates a roving minor medical-care practice called ColdDoctor.com that serves patients in the Coeur dAlene-Post Falls-Hayden area at their homes or offices.


Also, he has developed and has been presenting to employers in North Idaho and Eastern Washington recently a 75-minute PowerPoint presentation on pandemic avian flu as a means of expanding into paid consulting work in that area, because of his personal interest in it.


Its a unique problem. There is no learning curve, he says. Most companies will be unprepared for such an event.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.